Between 1945 and 1963, over two and a half million eighteen year olds were called up for national service. Alf Townsend was one of them, and here he tells his story - the highs and lows of life as a lowly Aircraftman Second Class in the early '50s. Before national service intervened, Alf was 'heading down the criminal road at top speed', having grown up in a north London slum, where money was short and local villains were revered. This book is a warts and all account of Alf Townsend's time in the RAF, when he was transplanted into a completely new world of misfits and officer types, rogues and entertainers, all amusingly described in the author's inimitable style.